A £1.5M housing scheme, providing accommodation for 100 people, has been opened in Darlington.

The Mayor of the town, Councillor Dorothy Long, gave a red carpet welcome to residents at Tees Valley Housing Group's Kingsbury Mews housing scheme, in Parkside.

She greeted some of the residents, and all the contractors who worked on the 43-house development, by ushering them along a red carpet.

Tees Valley Housing Group provided funding for the majority of the development from its own resources, with the Housing Corporation contributing £190,412 towards a shared ownership scheme.

Fifteen properties in the scheme are for shared ownership, which allows families to purchase a share of the house, anything between 50 and 75 per cent, while paying rent on the remaining proportion.

This allows people on low incomes, who need family accommodation, a chance to get on the property ladder. Most importantly, it secures the family high-quality accommodation. The occupants have the opportunity to buy the remaining share at a later date.

There are also 18 rented properties, and ten properties have been built for private sale.

Coun Long said: "It is vital that we work with Tees Valley Housing Group along with all our other partners to provide quality housing for the broad cross-section of people who want to live in Darlington.